day 248: Moving Walkways

Anyone who travels as a part of their job is consciously or subliminally aware of this statement: "Caution, the moving walkway is about to end...look down the moving walkway is about to end". Yesterday as I traveled from SFO to Denver to Indianapolis, I heard that statement at least ten times. This past summer after the death of my father-in-law I began to hear those words with a different meaning. As he was like all of us, a worker, his moving walkway ended sooner than he desired. In is mind, there was still work to be completed, to be finished the way he saw it to be done. He was not ready to end his work. But, as we know, when the moving walkway ends for each of us is not in our hands. I have also seen over the last year many people who have had their work end prematurely and like that stutter step and strange feeling you have after walking briskly on the moving walkway and then coming to the end and getting the feeling that you have lost a step, so felt those who had their jobs taken from them with recessionary cutbacks. Caution, the moving walkway is about to come to an end. We just don't know when and are we prepared for these changes when they happen to us or those around us? On my flight segment from San Francisco to Denver I sat next to a man who appeared to be in early 60's. Halfway through the flight he pulled out a folder and the first page was a set of handwritten notes with the heading; "Questions for the doctor". As I glanced at the page I could see that these were questions that he or someone else had written so he would be sure and ask each of them to the doctor. They covered pre and post surgery routines, medication reactions, etc. Written was also, "Percentage chance of success with or without the surgery?". As I saw through the rest of the flight he had pulled off a lot of information on the internet and while I could not figure out what the condition was, from the pictures of people with scars on the back of their head down into their spine it had something to do with a spine or brain problem. I felt for the man as he was, right next to me, staring at his moving walkway and by necessity, having to look down and take caution. Today we are going to go to work and most of us will not think twice about the moving walkway coming to an end. We will jump on it with all of the energy we can muster and walk and run as fast as we can for the next eight to twelve hours without so much as looking up or around. We will miss all the people who are walking slower than us blowing past them with an occasional, "how you doin'?". What we forget is to live and work in the moment and listen to the words in Ecclesiastes 7:14: "Enjoy prosperity while you can. But when hard times strike, realize they both come from God. That way you will realize that nothing is certain in this life." If you are traveling today, or the next time you are traveling, listen for the automated words from the moving walkway and take that opportunity to stop for a moment and thank God for the blessings, the challenges, and the moment that you have now. Ask Him to make you a better example to others and to help you realize your full potential and purpose that He has put you here. And then recognize that your own moving walkway will one day end and that today is the day to make the most of what you have been given.

Reference: Ecclesiastes 7:14 (New Living Testament)